Democratic response to Trump will focus on 'Americans who feel forgotten and forsaken'

by Stephen Loiaconi

FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

“We choose the living wage, paid leave and affordable child care your family needs to survive,” Kennedy plans to say. “We choose pensions that are solvent, trade pacts that are fair, roads and bridges that won’t rust away, and good education you can afford. We choose a health care system that offers mercy, whether you suffer from cancer or depression or addiction.”

Though he will describe the U.S. as mired in chaos and partisanship under Trump, Kennedy also aims to emphasize hope for the future.

“Bullies may land a punch,” he will say, according to the excerpts. “They might leave a mark. But they have never, not once, in the history of our United States, managed to match the strength and spirit of a people united in defense of their future.”